[Verse 1]
They came through the gate into 280
Empty
Not a guard — not a being — not a sound
Solara raised her hand — the column stopped
The silence was not the quiet kind
It was not peace
It was the kind of empty
That means something is about to use it
[Pre-Chorus]
They looked for the gate to 279
There was no gate
They looked again
There was still no gate
[Chorus]
The hole — they walked in
The hole — no way out
The hole — 280 is empty
The trap — it was always a trap
No gate — no door — no signal
The hole
[Verse 2]
Then someone found him
On the ground — the messenger
Not breathing — had not been breathing for a long time
Cassie: “That is not possible”
It was possible — it had happened
“Then who came to camp”
Nobody answered — nobody wanted to
The real messenger was here
Had been here
Whatever came to camp
Ate the soup
Said the words
Left on its own
Mira: “I should have—” — “Mira” — “I know”
She had not been three minutes behind
She had been much further
[Bridge]
“Find a door” — “Any door”
They searched
No door — no seam — no fold
No crack that opened the right way
Then Aldric
“I have an orb”
“It can carry three”
“WHAT”
“Three. Only three.”
Chaos stepped forward — Void stepped forward
The argument lasted eleven seconds
No words — entirely something else
Void stepped forward further
“I need to go,” said Aldric — “I activate it”
“Three total” — “Yes” — “Solara. Aldric. One more.”
Castor looked at Solara — she looked back — he nodded
He would stay — he would find another way
“The rest — find another way out. We come back.”
“We will find the way,” said Cassie
Chaos looked at the space where Void had been
He said nothing — he would stay
[Outro]
Aldric held the orb — three inside its light
It hummed — it held — it moved
Solara looked back once
Castor — Herc — The Ones — Fable not narrating
Pebble with both hands on the floor
The beasts quiet around Rangor
The light closed
Back at camp
The smell reached them first
Then the light — the wrong kind
Fire
Empty — no one — nothing
The camp was gone — the camp was burning
Aldric: “The orb is spent. We cannot go back.”
Void: “Then we go forward.”
The hole had been 280
And 280 was behind them
And everything else — was ahead